facepalm
facepalm Lexical Profile
facepalm Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A gesture in which a person places the palm of one or both hands across their face, typically as a physical display of embarrassment, frustration, exasperation, or disbelief.
"His absurd excuse for missing the deadline prompted a collective facepalm from the rest of the team."
• verb
To cover one's face with the palm of the hand as an expression of embarrassment, dismay, exasperation, or disbelief.
"She nearly facepalmed when she realized she had been speaking on mute for the first five minutes of the presentation."
• interjection
Used (especially in informal writing and online communication) to express acute embarrassment, frustration, exasperation, or disbelief at a foolish mistake or situation.
"I just sent that confidential critique to the entire department by mistake—facepalm!"
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in internet slang in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a compound of 'face' and 'palm', popularized globally through online reaction images, most notably a still of Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.